1. Field of the Invention
This application relates generally to a method and apparatus for importing medical information into a computer-accessible database, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for importing DICOM standard compliant medical images and related information from a portable computer-readable medium into a PACS or other computer-accessible memory over a communication network.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditional medical studies often include comprehensive documentation of the subject that is the focal point of the study. Many such studies include at least one of a medical image such as an x-ray, PET scan, CT scan or the like; textual information in a report related to the focal point of the study; and information about the patient and his or her care during the study. For example, the focal point of the study may be the lower back of a patient. During an examination a treating physician may send the patient to have a MRI conducted on the portion of the patient's lower back that is the focal point of the study. The MRI, a written report, and other information collected by the treating physician or others who conducted the MRI could all be included as part of the study being conducted on the patient's lower back. Medical images such as the MRI, information related to the focal point of the study such as the treating physician's report, and any other information about the patient and his or her care is collectively referred to herein as “Medical Information”.
When Medical Information about a patient is required to be transferred from one entity to another, the patient is often provided with a hardcopy of the Medical Information to be given to the desired recipient. Hardcopies of medical images have traditionally been printed onto film sheets and reports printed onto paper, for example, to be manually delivered in a tangible form to the recipient. Although the hardcopies can convey the necessary information that must be reviewed by the specialist to evaluate the patient's condition, the information in the report must be manually entered into the specialist's computer database. Further, the film sheets can be scanned or otherwise captured in an electronic image for archival purposes.
More recently, the medical industry has moved to storing Medical Information in an electronic format onto a portable computer-readable medium such as a CD, DVD, USB flash drive, etc. . . . from where they can be retrieved and viewed using a computer workstation loaded with compatible image viewer software. In this way, the Medical Information can be retrieved and viewed using a computer without printing a hardcopy, but the computer-readable medium storing the Medical Information must still be delivered to the intended recipient to have the Medical Information stored in the recipient's medical record database.
As an example of the process for transferring Medical Information from a first medical care provider to a second medical care provider, the patient can be given a CD storing the patient's MRI or other Medical Information by the first provider. The patient, upon arriving at the second provider's facility, can hand the CD to a receptionist who is to manually select and copy the Medical Information from the CD into the second provider's database. To accomplish this, the receptionist will typically insert the CD into a computer terminal located at the reception area. Using that same computer terminal, the receptionist will browse the contents of the CD on a monitor locally connected to that computer terminal at the reception area and select those files that are to be saved within the second provider's database, which is usually a network-accessible computer-readable medium. The receptionist must also properly identify the file location within the second provider's database where medical information for this particular patient is to be stored so the Medical Information can be associated with the patient. The receptionist must also manually save the Medical Information being imported from the CD using the computer terminal at the reception area in a way that does not overwrite existing medical information stored within the second provider's database. After performing the steps outlined above the receptionist then stores the Medical Information directly from the CD to its ultimate storage destination in the second provider's database of medical records from where it can be retrieved for clinical purposes.